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I am a recent master graduate and I have 3 years of experience as a data analyst. I see a job opening in Amazon that peeks my interest. But I feel I would need a referral to stand out from the crowd. If anyone who’s working in Amazon could help me out, I would really appreciate it!Amazon
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The advice I get from every senior HR leader (VP+) is to focus on experience. There so so many people getting advanced degrees but have no actual experience. SHRM is definitely acknowledged and encouraged, but before you invest in a degree (unless you’re not going into debt from it), focus on getting experiences.
I understand the importance of experience. I’m 2 years out of college and I want to start getting my experience in HR sooner than later. The pandemic delayed my plans and I’ve been doing full time recruiting. I’m trying to find out my best step to find to find a job and gain that experience. Any additional help would be appreciated. Thank you!
I would think a Master’s Degree would hold more weight than SHRM. To me it shows a greater level of commitment.
I would go for the SHRM certification. Having those PHR initials after your name makes a difference. But it also depends on your goals in HR. If you want to eventually get to a higher role as an HR Business Partner or higher, a masters in I/O Psychology would help eventually.
This is solid advice. Thank you for this.
A masters degree is not required for most HR roles so I don’t think that would be the best use of your time or money. The certification carries more weight especially when you’re just entering the field because it’s testing your skill/knowledge on relevant topics and has the most immediate impact. Your experience will hold more value than a masters degree, in my opinion.
I have my SPHR certification and my Masters in Organizational Leadership with a focus Org Development, with 12 years of HR experience. I can say that every leader I have reported to in HR has been certified. Not all have had Masters degrees.
My point here was that a masters degree is not required to land a HR role. You can very well transition to HR without it. Having a certification would make you marketable and would take less time than a Masters degree so if you had to pick one right now, the cert would be my choice. Not suggesting that you never pursue a masters.
I transitioned to HR from Finance with no degree or cert. It was my experience that landed the job. I was in undergrad pursuing a degree in Sociology.
Between the two I think a masters degree will have more long term value. It could be helpful as you move into leadership roles or if for whatever reason you transition out of HR completely and into another field. A masters degree will also take longer to obtain so while maybe one day you can have both I would work on the masters first.
MBA with a concentration in HRM. It will also give you other training and education in other business fields in case you want/need to transition out of HR. I may be a little biased, as I’m finishing up with my MBA right now
I transitioned from restaurant management to HR in the middle of earning my MBA.
I would get your PHR cert over the SHRM cert. Then you can get your masters. I have both and masters is definitely worth it if you’re sure about staying in HR.
I’d say the cert will help you get a job in HR and you can do that quickly. The MS will take time to complete so do cert first and then MS if you want to stay in HR. I did the opposite bc I was already in HR but I’ve seen new HR folks do cert then masters and it helped.
Will your current company pay for your education? If you can get a masters while working recruiting you could take programming classes mixed in with the core classes, if you’re interested, and come out with an ability to wrangle HRIS software. Very valuable!
Masters can really jump start your career if you go to a school with a good career services that has companies who recruit for Master Students for early career development/rotational programs. It is what I did and truly was worth it. Look into the schools career services.
All depends on who’s hiring you and what they think. If you noticed HR community has taken its side on SHRM vs. HRCI and they make the preference know via posting. Others understands they are equal and at the end of the day it’s about the experience and knowledge the individual has not which cert they subscribe. I have my masters in HRM and my SPHR I think the cert was more useful depending on how high you want to go in the profession a masters may make sense. Have to be hungry though Master’s are not cheap😁